Natural Light photographer?

I see many child portrait photographers surfacing and they advertise 100% natural light photographer. Just curious what is attractive regarding advertising this? Is it because they lack knowledge to use flashes or are flashes discouraged when taking baby pictures?

I do some natural light photography. Small scale, primarily friends and some of their friends. I explain my "business" as such because honestly, I completely lack the knowledge to use a flash or studio lights correctly. It's something I would love to learn, as I've seen amazing shots on here and elsewhere using lights and flash. I'm grateful to those who post their amazing pictures here and explain their lighting setups.

Also our pediatrician encourages parents to refrain from using a flash when shooting directly at the baby for the first several months.

USER876 wrote in post #11705200I see many child portrait photographers surfacing and they advertise 100% natural light photographer. Just curious what is attractive regarding advertising this? Is it because they lack knowledge to use flashes or are flashes discouraged when taking baby pictures?

In this day of "organic" being superior, that is one way to spin the fact that you don't know how to use flash, or don't have the proper lighting equipment. There is nothing wrong with that, natural light is beautiful if you know how to use it. As for your pediatrician who discourages flash with babies for the first few months, don't swallow that, it tastes like bulls**t to me. For every one doc who will say that, I will show you 20 who would disagree.

Speaking generally, they are inexperienced photographers with a lack of knowledge of how to use flash and/or do not own any flashes.They then try to spin this a positive like they are natural light photographers by choice rather than because of their lack of skills/options.Anyone thinking about hiring one of these photographers should make sure they see LOTS of samples to insure they provide consistent quality.

Yeah there is one by me that has a successful business.....images are quite impressive, really mastered the natural light. I guess the only downside is having to reschedule shoots if the light isn't right.

suecassidy wrote in post #11710707As for your pediatrician who discourages flash with babies for the first few months, don't swallow that, it tastes like bulls**t to me. For every one doc who will say that, I will show you 20 who would disagree.

That's how it is with everything in the baby world. One doc or study will say one thing, 20 others will disagree. It's up to the parent to chose whether or not they want to listen. My daughter has been photographed with studio lights in softboxes but never with a flash, we've decided to listen to the doc on that one.

suecassidy wrote in post #11710707In this day of "organic" being superior, that is one way to spin the fact that you don't know how to use flash, or don't have the proper lighting equipment. There is nothing wrong with that, natural light is beautiful if you know how to use it. As for your pediatrician who discourages flash with babies for the first few months, don't swallow that, it tastes like bulls**t to me. For every one doc who will say that, I will show you 20 who would disagree.

LOL, it think I will rent a stall at the farmers market to sell organic photography. The Volvo,Audi,Beemer crowd will be lining up. Too funny. I would only use Hahnemuhle bamboo or sugarcane paper for prints. Where do I find Gary Fong's ad company?

The girl we use for family photos only does natural light and she is quite phenomenal. She is really good at "seeing the light" and using the most of it. She can use strobes and OCF, but sometimes why bother when you are excel at using just natural light?

Gatorboy wrote in post #11741868Anyone that isn't blind can "see the light" in this case.

He's right, seeing the light is key to great natural light portraits. Many of the greatest portrait photographers prefer to work with available light. Arnold Newman, Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans are but a few and they all learned to "see the light." I prefer natural light and I've worked with probably more studio and location strobes than most that post here for more years. I prefer natural light, not because I don't know how use supplemental lighting, I just prefer natural light, though it can be in some cases, hard to work with and takes a lot of time to learn how to see it and use it correctly.

Well heres a few quotes by some of the greats"Don’t use a flash out of respect for the natural lighting, even when there isn’t any. If these rules aren’t followed, the photographer becomes unbearably obstrusive." - Henri Cartier-Bresson

"I always prefer photographing in availible light – or Rembrandt-light I like to call it – so you get the natural modulations of the face. It makes a more alive, real, and flattering portrait." - Alfred Eisenstaedt

And about the ability to see."Once you really commence to see things, then you really commence to feel things." - Edward Steichen

"Photography doesn`t teach you to express your emotions it teachs you to see." - Berenice Abbott

"It's just about seeing. You either see, or you don't see." -Elliott Erwitt

"I am not interested in shooting new things - I am interested to see things new." - Ernst Haas

"I stopped thinking in terms of objects. I was seeing things, instead, as dynamic events, unique in their own beings yet also related and existing together within a universal context of energy and change." - Wynn Bullock

"Leaving aside the mysteries and the inequities of human talent, brains, taste, and reputations, the matter of art in photography may come down to this: it is the capture and projection of the delights of seeing" Walker Evans

"The camera doesn't make a bit of difference. All of them can record what you are seeing. But, you have to SEE." - Ernst Haas

"The photographer’s most important and likewise most difficult task is not learning to manage his camera, or to develop, or to print. It is learning to see photographically – that is, learning to see his subject matter in terms of the capacities of his tools and processes, so that he can instantaneously translate the elements and values in a scene before him into the photograph he wants to make." - Edward Weston

I'm not saying that using natural light is the only way to photograph. I use both natural light and supplemental light all the time. Sometimes just natural/available light if I see that its right and sometimes I use portable or studio strobes, just depends on what i'm trying to achieve. But being able to SEE is the absolute key to everything. To be able to see when the light is right for your visual statement and when its not and then having the abilities to effectively use supplemental lighting is key.

To say that the only reason that someone uses natural light is because they lack the skill to use strobe or supplemental light is just as crazy as to say that the only reason someone uses strobes is because they can't see in natural light.

I prefer natural/available light. Many of my favorite portrait photographers also preferred it. I also prefer to use supplemental light in a way as to mimic natural light when I have to use it much like Irving Penn and Marc Hauser.

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